The Demon and the Dead Man: All Over the Map
by Lucillia
Summary: Side Story to The Demon and the Dead Man, set during Chapter 22. After Kakashi causes an incident that results in Naruto releasing some of the Kyuubi's Chakra, adventures abound when Naruto and team are sent on a mission that has them running back and forth across the continent.


Homecoming after a mission was normally seen as a joyous thing by a ninja. That wasn't the case for this team however for a variety of reasons. When the gates of Konoha came into view, there wasn't the usual cheer that went up amongst a Genin team that was returning from its first mission away. Kakashi who felt guilty over causing the situation that had precipitated his team's departure was almost tempted to turn up a little later than he already was, maybe by a year or so rather than a week. Depending on how well Naruto's presence was received due to the incident he had caused, Konoha's shinobi forces might be hard pressed to keep discipline if they weren't part of the problem themselves. Izuna wasn't happy to be back to Konoha for a variety of reasons, many of which stemmed from his treatment there, and the treatment received by the one person in the entire village who had unconditionally accepted him. As for Naruto...

Naruto was apprehensive as he approached the gates of the village that had been his home since the day he was born. He'd known that there had been danger when he and Izuna-nii had left, and that it had been tied to what had happened when he had lost control and had been sent running the moment he'd regained his senses, but he didn't know how bad the danger was or how warm his welcome would be when he stepped through the village gates and into Konoha. The thought of going back into the village and facing those cold glares that would most likely be even colder caused his stomach to roil.

Having been into the outside world where he had been ignored and dismissed due to his age at worst and more often than not been treated as if his presence was welcome and that the person he was with actually enjoyed his company, he could understand why Izuna was unhappy in Konoha. Izuna had spent his entire first life before Konoha was even thought of, had grown up being able to go where he wanted when he wanted if his family didn't need him for something, and hadn't been treated by the people around him the way most of the villagers had treated him. That, and Izuna used to be able to visit just about any shop or restaurant without being tossed out or receiving grudging service if any at all. About the only reason that some storekeepers and restaurant owners took his and Izuna's money rather than throwing them out like they looked like they wanted to was because money was money. Teuchi was different, but then again he was one of very few in the village who seemed to welcome his and Izuna's presence.

Seeing how things were different away from Konoha, he was beginning to understand why Izuna-nii complained all the time. Before he had seen the world, or at least some of it, the way things were were the way things were and he really hadn't processed that they could be any other way. It had been shocking to receive his order in what was for any place other than Ichiraku Ramen record time, and to receive a polite smile and a comment on how cute he was along with the order the first time it had happened. After weeks of receiving smiles and actually making friends with other children his age, the only thing that was keeping him from turning from the road that led home was that he had someone waiting for him, someone who would be sad if he went away and never came back. Well, two someones, but the other someone was always busy because he had a village to run. Even as he told himself that he had people waiting for him, part of him said that Mizuki-nii had Iruka-san to be with him and the Old Man was busy running the village, and that they would be okay if he left because Iruka-san would be there and almost everyone loved the Old Man so it wouldn't really matter if one of those people went away because there were hundreds more.

"Don't Naruto." Izuna-nii said, breaking the silence and breaking the track his thoughts were following, the track that had him two seconds from bolting in the opposite direction.

Izuna-nii still looked a little funny because he was red as a tomato and his skin was peeling in places, but the look on his face was very serious.

"Why not?" he asked, wondering why Izuna-nii who had said many times before that he didn't like the village was telling him not to run.

"They won't let you go easily, and if you do go, they will do everything they can to hunt you down." Izuna-nii replied. "The minute you become Konoha's property, you belong to Konoha forever, and they won't let you live in peace if you try to change that. Even in my own time defectors weren't well received."

Sighing, Naruto continued walking despite the fact that part of him wanted to bolt and make his way out in the world where he'd been better treated rather than face what would undoubtedly be waiting for him at home. Now that he'd seen that what is isn't always what is and that it hasn't always been, he could feel some of what Izuna had said about being trapped.

"Don't worry Naruto," Izuna-nii said, wrapping a still sunburnt arm around him. "I'm still here, and I won't be leaving you."

With Izuna there to support him, he made his way through the village gates and into the village proper looking less like a condemned man going to his execution as he did so. One day, he might go back out there on another mission.

If the villagers didn't kill him first that was.

Still, it had been interesting while it lasted. There had been new places to see, new people to meet, something new happening around every corner, and he had almost forgotten why he had to go in the first place.

Almost.

Izuna was there with him however, and that's what counted.


End file.
